European Patent Office

Several big hurdles have recently been cleared, but a new court system still needs to be accepted by 5 participating countries before the new intellectual property regime can come to life

Renewal fees could make or break the unitary patent. And companies are worried a single patent court could prompt a deluge of patent infringement suits by “patent trolls.” But top EU officials insist the new system will actually help European inventors – while keeping trolls at bay.

The European Patent Organisation has received 10% more applications last year, and expects a further increase in 2011.

Brussels is abuzz with speculation that Europe’s fragmented, costly and complex patent regime is about to reform – aided by advances in machine translation. But support is not unanimous.